"That'll be Baltar's ship," said Cain. "How obliging of him to let us know which ship he's on. Plot a course between the two base ships. Arm all missiles and bring defense shields to maximum power."
Starbuck watched his scanner and made several quick calculations. Then he smiled and chinned on his comcircuit.
"Apollo . . ."
"Go ahead, Starbuck."
"According to my scanner and some calculations I've just made, our vector to the fleet will take these shuttles well out of the path of those returning Cylon fighter squadrons."
"That was the whole idea," Apollo replied. "We don't want to lead them back to a fleet of defenseless civilian ships."
"Sure," said Starbuck, "and that means they don't really need our protection. I mean, those fighters aren't coming after us, they're going to return to the base ships before they do anything else, right? And what's one less Viper . . . or two, if you get my meaning?"
"I get it," said Apollo. "But what you're talking about is violating orders."
"Whose?"
"What do you mean, whose? Cain's."
"Now, how can we be accused of violating orders of a man who isn't following orders himself?" said Starbuck.
"Somehow that makes sense," Apollo said.
"Are you with me?"
"Boomer," said Apollo.
"Yo . . ."
"You're in command," Apollo said. "Starbuck and I want to check out our rear flank."
"Rear flank, huh?" said Boomer. "How far to our rear?"
"Don't ask too many questions," said Apollo.
"That's what I thought," Boomer replied. "You guys are crazy. But good luck."
Starbuck's and Apollo's Vipers peeled off from the formation and turned back, under full power, toward the Pegasus.
Tolen checked his screens, did a double take, then checked them again.
"Commander?"
"Are we in missile range?" said Cain tensely.
"Coming up on it," Tolen replied, "but there're two Vipers approaching us at just sub-light speed."
"What? Who is it? What the hell are they up to? Identify . . ."
"No time, sir. Target range, two base ships dead ahead . . ."
The two base ships opened up with their forward laser batteries.
"Negative shield," said Cain. The shield slid down over the bridge observation port and they were now dependent entirely upon their instruments, with several scanner turrets not functioning. "Return fire," said Cain.
Apollo's hands tensed on the controls of his Viper.
"There they are," he said. "Looks like he intends to try and go between them."
"Let's see if we can't knock out their flank missile launchers," Starbuck said.
"Oh, boy. Well, who wants to live forever? I'll take the ship on the right," Apollo said.
"I'll get the other one . . ."
With engines working to the limit, both pilots went in under full thrusters, diving down and passing over the Pegasus as they swooped down upon the base ships, darting from side to side to avoid laser fire.
"Sir!" said Tolen. "Those two Vipers are attempting a strafing run on those base ships dead ahead!"
Cain sat up straight, leaning forward, his hands grasping the arms of his chair tightly.
"Starbuck and Apollo!" he exclaimed. "I told them . . ."
"They seem to be angling for the flankside missile launchers on both ships," said Tolen.
"They're clearing a way through for us," said Cain. He smashed his fist down on the console. "Come on, boys, go! Go!"
Apollo streaked in with Starbuck on his flank. The base ships loomed impossibly large before them, looking like small planets. They could both see the forward batteries as they swiveled to aim at them, and almost at the same time both Vipers rolled, diving in between the two base ships.
Apollo looked "up" to see the massive hull of the base ship directly "overhead." For a moment he had the illusion that the gargantuan craft was falling down on him, about to squash him like a bug, but it quickly passed as he oriented himself to the new perspective.
"You know, it's kind of nice in here, ' he said to Starbuck. "They can't fire at us without hitting each other."
"Trouble is, we can't stay in here," Starbuck replied. "We'd better make it count."
"Right. Let's give it to them!"
Both Vipers cut loose, blasting with their lasers, raking the sides of the base ships, pausing only to allow their lasers to recycle before they fired again. Then they were through, hurtling away from both ships and rolling, flying evasive maneuvers.
"Scanners report solid damage to both base ships," Tolen said excitedly, "here . . . here, and here!"
He pointed on the large screen showing the base ships, indicating where Starbuck and Apollo had scored very telling hits.
"I'll be damned," said Cain. "They did it! That's what I call flying!"
"And shooting," Tolen said.
"All right, let's not let 'em down. We're going in. Arm missiles for point-blank range. Even their shields won't be able to help them."
Amid a veritable sea of energy beams, the three ships came together like huge mechanized titans clashing to slug it out.
"Closing to blank range," said Tolen, jerking briefly as a shower of sparks fell on him from an exploding monitor screen overhead. "Ten . . . nine . . ."
"Starbuck!" said Apollo. "My scanner shows incoming Cylons, must be a thousand of 'em!"
"Give or take a few hundred, huh?" said Starbuck. He was flying more than his Viper. He was soaring on the most incredible adrenaline high his body had ever experienced. The sheer terror of diving down between those two base ships had triggered off a surge of indescribable vitality within him. "We can't leave now," said Starbuck, "I want to see what happens. And we still have to get that third base ship."
"Starbuck, for God's sake," Apollo said, "we can't fight off several Cylon fighter squadrons!"
"Apollo . . . we've come this far . . ."
"Right, and I'm not about to end the journey here," Apollo said.
"But we—"
"Starbuck! Snap out of it! Negative, you understand me? No way! We've done all we can!"
"Three . . . two . . . one," said Tolen."
"Fire missiles!" Cain said.
At the last possible moment, Cain rolled the Pegasus, dodging the fire from the base ships' forward batteries, and the battlestar hurtled between the two Cylon craft at an incredible speed with missiles firing, slamming into the base ships.
Apollo looked back to see an impossibly bright wash of light against the velvet dark of space.
"Did you see that?" Starbuck shouted.
"I can't see a thing but spots," Apollo replied. "I've never seen a flash like that."
"Can you see the Pegasus?"
"No, I can't tell if he made it or not."
"What do we do?"
The Cylon fighter squadrons were closing fast.
"We get the hell out of here," Apollo said, "and go home—as fast as we can!"
The Galactica was under way, the fuel having been distributed throughout the fleet. When Starbuck and Apollo rendezvoused with the battlestar, Adama had been overjoyed, although he tried to hide his feelings behind a stoic exterior. He had never expected to see either one of them again.
That's twice I've lost them, Adama thought, only to have them restored to me again. Although he would never allow Starbuck to know it, Adama felt about him as though he were an adopted son. In a way, he was. Flamboyant, insubordinate, a maverick, but still, a son. As different from his true son, Apollo, as it was possible to be, yet still they were like brothers.
It seemed to Adama that an entire lifetime had passed since they had gone out on patrol together and failed to return. He thought he had lost them then, but they had returned, bringing with them another man Adama had thought long dead.
Cain. What could anybody make of Cain? They called him the "living legend," the Juggernaut, a name he richly deserved, for he was as stubborn and implacable as any man A
dama had ever met. They had been friends for years, for longer than their children were alive, although they had never spent a great deal of time together. Fate always took them down different paths. In many ways, they were like Starbuck and Apollo. Adama would look at Starbuck and see a budding Cain, brash, aggressive, certain of himself and self-centered, a man who could be easily disliked if it were not for compensating charms and irrefutable evidence of his abilities that justified his intensity and self-confidence. Apollo, on the other hand, was like his father. Cool, steady, compassionate, a man who hid his vulnerabilities beneath an exterior of military discipline. But at least Starbuck and Apollo were together. For all their quarrels, for all their disagreements and impatience with each other, Adama and Cain had been as close as it was possible for two men to be. Fate had brought them back together again and had again torn them apart. This time, forever, thought Adama.
As soon as the Vipers carrying Starbuck and Apollo were aboard, Adama leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, allowing himself to relax for the first time since it all began. The first time his prodigal sons had returned, they came back with Cain and he had saved their lives, the lives of every man and woman in the fleet. Moreover, he had done it his way, as he always had. It was an old joke that they used to have between them, that there were three ways to get anything done . . . the right way, the wrong way and Cain's way, but whether it was right or wrong, Cain's way always brought results. Well, now Starbuck and Apollo had returned from the dead a second time. Only this time, they came back alone.
Adama rose to his feet and took a deep breath. "I'll be in the life station," he told Athena.
She smiled and nodded. She knew how he had been feeling. Apollo was his favorite, although her father did not consciously act as though he were, and she understood. She did not resent her brother, rather she felt sorry that the strength of emotion between her father and her brother could not be brought out into the open. For reasons of their own, owing to the nature of their personalities, father and son could never really show the love they felt for one another. They hid behind their roles as Captain and Commander, but the love was there, nevertheless. Both men knew it though, like many men, they had difficulty in finding ways to express it.
There were many times when she wished that she could be out there in a Viper, flying with her brother's squadron, but she knew that every time Apollo departed on a mission, part of Adama's heart went with him. She could only imagine how her father felt at such times. There was the fact that she was the most qualified person aboard to do her job, and the fact that, besides Starbuck, Apollo was the finest pilot in the fleet, better than she could ever hope to be. Yet she also understood that it was necessary for Adama to keep her by his side. He needed to know that she was there. Like Cain, Adama, too, had lost his wife. Unlike Cain, he had an incredible weight of responsibility for all the people in the fleet. Unlike Cain, he never had someone like Cassiopeia to help him through the hard times. All he had was the Galactica. Thanks to Cain, the Galactica had once again been saved.
It's over, thought Athena as she watched her father leave the bridge. This time.
Cassiopeia glanced up as Adama entered with Starbuck and Apollo. Sheba was lying down on one of the beds.
"Not too long," said Cassiopeia. "She needs to build her strength back up."
Sheba squeezed Cassiopeia's hand before she moved away.
"Any word?" Sheba asked anxiously.
"No," Adama said. He hesitated. "But that doesn't mean a thing. He wouldn't break communication silence and reveal his position."
Sheba gave him a small smile. She blinked back tears.
"Thanks for trying," she said, "but what are the odds against their surviving all those fighters? And that other base ship?" She shook her head.
"What were the odds when we thought you were all lost over two yahrens ago?" said Adama.
"Far as I'm concerned," said Starbuck, "he just headed out into deep space the way he did the last time. Those fighters couldn't have followed very far with empty fuel cells. They'd flown a long way already."
"In the meantime," said Adama, "until we hear from your father, I want you to consider yourself a part of the family."
He took her hand and squeezed it.
"I already do," she said.
"I think you should let her rest now," said Cassiopeia, ushering them out of the life station. At the door, Starbuck paused.
"Cassi, look . . ." He paused uncertainly. "I know things have been hard the last—"
She stopped him by putting a finger to his lips.
"Don't say it. Now is not the time or the place."
"Yes, but—"
"Why don't you come and see me later, in my cabin, when I've gone off duty? We can talk then, if you like. Or we don't have to talk."
She leaned forward and kissed him lingeringly on the lips. Then she went back into the life station, closing the doors behind her. Starbuck stood staring at the doors for a moment, then sighed and scratched his head.
"God damn. I need a drink." He moved off toward the Officers' Club.
Apollo and Adama walked slowly side by side down the corridor. For a while they didn't speak.
"It must be hard for her," Apollo said finally.
Adama nodded. "Yes."
"He was a hell of a man, wasn't he?"
"Yes. He was."
"I . . . I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," Apollo said.
Adama stopped. He swallowed heavily and turned to face his son. For a moment, both men simply stood there, staring at each other, then Adama stepped forward and put his arms around his son, crushing him to him in a strong embrace. Apollo hugged him back, but they broke apart when they saw several crew members approaching. They stood there briefly, feeling awkward and embarrassed, then Apollo said, "What do you say, Commander—want to go visit your adopted grandson?"
Adama smiled. "Yes, I do. Very much."
They walked off down the corridor together. They didn't even notice that they kept in step.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Battlestar Galactica 6 - The Living Legend Page 15
